Black Dove, White Raven

From the beloved and acclaimed Elizabeth Wein comes a searing new novel about friendship, flying, and war. Emilia and Teo's lives changed in a fiery, terrifying instant when a bird brought down the plane their mothers were piloting. Teo's mother died immediately, but Em's survived, determined to raise Teo according to his late mother's wishes--among his own people in Ethiopia. Rhoda brings Em and Teo to Ethiopia and all three fall in love with the beautiful, peaceful country. But that peace is shattered by the threat of war with Italy, and teenage Em and Teo are drawn into the conflict. Will their love for their country and each other be their downfall . . . or their salvation?

"From the celebrated author of Code Name Verity comes another story of war, aviation, and devoted friendship. This time, the setting is 1930s Ethiopia. Teo is black and Emilia is white, and they were raised together by their mothers, who were stunt pilots and best friends. After Teo's mother died, the small family moved from the U.S. to Ethiopia, where Teo faced less prejudice. Now, however, war looms between Ethiopia and Italy, threatening Teo's future and prompting Emilia to take a wild risk. Flight logs, letters, and school essays help round out this unusual and vividly detailed historical novel." Teen Scene May 2015 newsletter http://libraryaware.com/996/NewsletterIssues/ViewIssue/286760d5-46a0-44e0-a6c6-f7fb74c40444?postId=550bfcb1-e056-46ca-ba33-df35fd0b5f5f

Another extremely well-researched, aviation-focused book from the author of 'Code Name Verity'. The setting this time is 1930s Ethiopia, and the main characters are a white girl and black boy who have been raised more or less as siblings. Elizabeth Wein is a great writer and is excellent at bringing a different time and place to life, but I thought there was a tad bit too much explaining of history in this one, and a biiiit too much plane stuff, to the point that the characters' journeys suffered a bit. It's still a good book; it's just not genius like 'Verity' was.